Trail of Cthulhu: Eternal Lies

Episode 44: Ambush!

25

AUG/15

Late December, 1937 . . .

After arriving in India, the investigators gathered a few supplies and left Frankie Fawn behind with the plane as the rest were securing passages on trucks, buses and any other transport they could discover. Davis Lockhart, knowing he had a contact not far off in the village of Vigun, wanted to meet up with Sir Randolf Michaels, a gentleman explorer who he knew would be a great asset. More importantly, Sir Randolf likely knew of a guide they could find who could take them up to Mt Kailash.

After spending a week of traveling from Delhi to towards Thibet, a slight diversion was made to the village of Vigun which was a small, agricultural village with a mining operation. The one welcome sight was a place called ’MacEwan’s Pub,’ an Irish pub in a remote Indian village. It was, naturally, the first place they decided to go.

Upon arriving, Julian Alexander introduced himself to the pub’s owner, Naill MacEwen who immediately set them up with pints of Guinness and Jameson. However, as they sat there and enjoyed some refreshing alcoholic beverages, Dr. Yuri Ivanov felt an uneasy presence. Were they being watched or were they just being sized up by the locals?

When Davis asked Naill whether or not he knew Sir Randolf, Naill stated that he did and went further to say it was not uncommon for him to show up nightly. Dr. Ivanov and Julian excused themselves to look at some hotel rooms across the road and upon their return, Sir Randolf arrived and this led to a warm reunion between Davis and Sir Randolf.

Davis cut right to the chase when he proposed going to the top of Mt Kailash, something most were unwilling to do. However, he did say a guide would be required and he only knew one man crazy or irreverent enough to act as their guide, since ascending the mountain was blasphemous to most of the religions in the area. Among the other interesting facts about Sir Randolf were his wild adventuring stories, as well as his connection with the mining concern he was connected with. To them this meant he was able to collect explosives. Which he agreed to do, much to their pleasure. However, he did suggest that they would have to move quickly as taking the explosives on such a trip would involve taking them without the mining company’s knowledge. As to a guide, he knew a man in a nearby village who may be able to assist them.

As the group spoke until the wee hours of the morning, a shot suddenly rung out and they were under attack in an instant. Cultists loyal to The Thing With a Thousand Mouths struck at the investigators. Led, by Alex Kramer, a man they met in Bangkok, the investigators were in a firefight for their lives. Whereas the investigators were able to repel the attack, Kramer, upon being killed in a hail of fire and Molotov cocktails, transformed into a horrific worm-like creature and struck at the investigators. The creature seemed more dangerous than the gun wielding cultists but in a short amount of time it was dealt with, even though the investigators were slightly worse for wear, not to mention the pub suffering the same fate.

The following day, as the physical and psychological trauma that had been suffered was addressed but Dr. ju-no Sinn slipped away to work on a special project; oen which he was secretive regarding. MacEwen and Sir Randolf smoothed things over with the local authorities, preventing the group from having to wait around and discuss things with the British officials. It seemed that nobody knew who the attackers were, but the investigators certainly were aware of whom they served.

The following day, the group met up and started on their next leg of the journey. Dr. Sinn revealed what he had been working on – he had taken Dr. Arthur Paddington’s head and cast it in bronze, using the materials from the mining company. He claimed that this Bronze Head would be a valuable asset for the coming adventure. The group then moved north, eventually coming to the village of Nagia, where they were searching for Pannu Singh, the guide referenced by Sir Randolf, who they found nearly passed out in a bar, having been drinking all day. Initially, he was hesitant to participate in their project, scaling Mt Kailash, but not because it was a sacred location, it was instead due to his lack of ambition. Eventually, Davis was able to convince the drunken Singh, with the aid of Dr. Ivanov (as well as the promise of money and finer booze).

With the guide decided upon and everything set, the group was now prepared to scale the mountain and attempt to stop a global evil.